Staying Sane

I'm sure you know the old cliche, "When it rains, it pours." Right now it's raining cats and dogs here—literally, because we've had some nasty rain storms (and tornadoes) in the area this week, but also figuratively, because suddenly I'm looking at my to-do list in alarm and wondering how I'm going to meet the deadlines I have in the next two weeks when I have a bunch of family visiting now through Monday morning and I start graduate classes again next Monday.

Don't get me wrong: I will meet my deadlines. Failure is not an option and when I make promises I'll do anything I can to fulfill them, even if it means forgoing sleep and ignoring my honey for a week or so. (Hopefully, he'll understand, when it means I'm actually contributing to the bills!)

And I'm not complaining, by any means. Any freelancer who has slow weeks (or months) knows better than to do that. I'm incredibly grateful for all of the work I have on my plate right now and am excited about all of it. It's a great mix of researching, writing, and editing on a variety of topics, which is just how I like it.

But you know how it is when things get way too busy, seemingly out of nowhere. All of a sudden it hits you just how much you have to do and how there most certainly can't be enough hours in the day. And then it's hard to breathe or think or even contemplate tackling the to-do list.

Then, after the initial panic, the only thing left to do is buckle down and get to work. That's all you can do. Well, that and these three steps designed to keep you sane when things get crazy.

1. Get organized. I can't stress enough the importance of staying organized when you're a freelancer. If you're juggling multiple projects, clients, and commitments at once, it's the only way to ensure you're on top of everything and able to focus on what really matters. I employ good old pen and paper to-do lists like it's my job—I have three different lists in front of me right now, actually.

Jot down everything you have to do. Now prioritize. Right now, my to-do list is organized by deadline. My goal is to work my way down it, one step at a time, crossing things off as I go. Just having those words in front of me that spell out exactly what I need to do right now help keep me focused and, hopefully, prevent me from staring off into space trying to remember what the heck I was going to do next.

2. Take some me time. Yes, even when you feel like you could work 25 hours of every day and still not get everything done, you need some downtime. Maybe it's just taking 20 minutes to pause and eat lunch in peace (read: no computer in front of you). Maybe it's going for a quick run or even—gasp!—bathing. You need time to take care of yourself. Otherwise you'll get to crunch time and be too exhausted to think. Or you'll be sick. Either way, you certainly won't be at your best, and if you're not at your best it's going to be pretty darn hard to turn in your best work.

3. Know when to drop a ball. When things get really tight, take a long, hard look at your to-do list. Will the world end if you don't clean the house this week? Probably not—so cross it off the list and worry about it later. Do you have so many paying projects right now that you can't possibly think about your personal blog (I admit, I'm about to be at that point, at least for a couple of days). It's hard to abandon your work, and you don't want to disappear for too long, but if you've built loyal readers they'll come back even if you're gone for a few days.

And the relief and knowing there's one less thing on your to-do list may be just what you need to keep going, to power through to the end, to find freelance success.